Skip to main content

S3: E76 Podcasting and Online Sites

Season Three
Episode 76
Podcasting and Online Sites
Technology can be a great tool to use in the classroom.  It can also be a great way to share content and ideas with other educators.  If you’ve ever wanted to use podcasting in the classroom or create your own podcast to publish for others to hear I’m going to share what you’ll need to consider and how to get started.  Like anything in life take it one step at a time. For me it was a lot of learning as I went.  


Before we jump into equipment, hosting sites, and using online websites to support your podcast - let’s talk about podcast details surrounding what you want to say and ideas for creating your show.


Topic
  • Choose a topic - what are you passionate about?  Choose a topic that can expand, but that isn’t overly broad
  • What message are you wanting to communicate to others?
  • Who is your target audience?
  • How long will episodes be?  The ideal episode is no longer than 22 minutes.  
  • How frequently will you put out podcast episodes?  Weekly is typical


Format of the Episode
  • Introduction
  • Topic Sentence - Short explanation about what listeners are going to hear on this particular episode
  • Organized information about whatever you are sharing
  • Scripting your show


Podcast Title
  • Choose a podcast title


Media
  • Picture for podcast:  I use Canva (free online website) - between 1400x1400 and up to 3000x3000 pixels - in JPG or PNG form, under 500 kb in size  
  • Music:  Will you need music for intros/outros/segments - 
    Royalty free music:


Podcasting
Recording Platform
  • Audacity:  doesn’t work on chromebooks; does work on ipads and iphones
  • Garage Band:  again, doesn’t work on chromebooks
  • Twisted Wavemy favorite one!  Must create an account to keep recordings.  Recordings are stored for 30 days on the site.  Can save downloads in Google Drive, Soundcloud, or your disk.  

    More info: (sidenote - this website is NOT really audacity for chromebook, but more a way to get other platforms that work on the chromebook like audacity) https://audacityguide.com/audacity-for-chromebook
Computer/Device
  • Find the platform that works with whatever device your school is using
  • I’m the most comfortable with Garage Band so that’s what I use
Microphone
  • Basic works well: I use a  
  • Windscreen:  I purchased this one from Amazon -


For Interviews:
  • Ecamm Recorder for Facetime/Skype / Call Recorder for Skype
  • Have also used website called Zoom
  • ZenCastr


Host
  • Libsyn - plans start at $5 a month; easy to use; great analytics
  • Podbean, Buzzsprout, Captivate, Blubrry
  • Free options: 
Buzzsprout - free, but episodes are removed after 90 days and can only download 2 hours of material every month
Podbean - free, offers up to 5 hours of storage


Online Materials
Decide if you want to use a free platform or pay monthly/yearly fees
Google Sites
Blogs - Google Blogger
Websites - Wix, Wordpress

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Recorder: What to do with Hot Cross Buns

Hot Cross Buns... it might be the bane of your existence, a song to start with students with B-A-G on the recorders that really doesn't affect you one way or the other, or a great song to use that is simplistic and gets the job done.  No matter what your feeling on it, it's likely that you've used it because it is effective at teaching simple rhythms, B-A-G and giving students a great starting place when learning recorder.  Personally, I find it useful but I'm honestly tired of it.  I decided to do something new with it this summer and wanted to change it so that it was more musical.  For many days of my summer break I spent time in the morning playing the recorder.  I wrote down melodies I had improvised and liked, played with modes and scales, added unpitched percussion parts/piano/guitar chords and enjoyed seeing what could be done.  Not all of the pieces were very good but it was a great creative way to figure out some solutions for recorder pitch sets, rhythms an

S6: E127 Mini Soundtrap Project

 Season 6 Episode 127 Mini Soundtrap Project In the last few episodes I’ve shared some Soundtrap lesson ideas that I created and used with students.  Podcasts, Fictional Character Themes, Found Sounds, and Poem with Loops.  Check out the resources provided for each of these lessons in the show notes or on the blog. Today’s episode is about a simple Soundtrap project that could be done as a collaboration by several students or by an individual in whatever time frame you provide.  The benefit of this lesson is that it’s incredibly flexible.  It could be done in as little as 20 minutes or as much as 45 minutes or more.  The idea is to allow students to create a piece containing a specific amount of loops that includes an introduction and ending.  Like I said super simple.  This might be a great way to introduce students to loops and even form structure depending on how you set up your rubric.   This was a lesson I used while I was out this past week and needed something that a substitu

S4: E107 Active Listening Through Storytelling and Classical Music with Robert Franz

Season Four Episode 107 Active Listening with Robert Franz Robert Franz Website Stella's Magical Musical Balloon Ride Ted Talk: Active Listening and Our Perception of Time Robert Franz Bio: Acclaimed conductor, Robert Franz, recognized as "an outstanding musician with profound intelligence," has held to three principles throughout his career: a commitment to the highest artistic standards, to creating alliances and building bridges in each community he serves, and a dedication to being a strong force in music education.  As Music Director of the Windsor Symphony Orchestra and Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival Orchestra, Associate Conductor of the Houston Symphony, and newly appointed Artistic Advisor of the Boise Baroque Orchestra, he has achieved success through his focus on each of these principles. His appeal as a first-rate conductor and enthusiastic award-winning educator is acclaimed by critics, composers, and audiences of all ages.  Composer Bright S